Mandolin-tailpiece.



MANnoLlN TAILPIECE.

APPLICATION FILED' HAY 19. 1916.

1,301,059. I Patented Apr. 15,1919.

ff A 15 A UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.`

WALTER I. KIRK, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssIGNOR TO LYON a HEALY, Or CHICAGO,

ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS. A

MANDOLIN-TILPIECE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr.. 15, 1919.

Application led-May 19, 1916. Serial No. 98,527.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, WALTER I. KIRK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Mandolin-Tailpieces, of which tlhe following is a full, clear, con- Oise, and exact description, reference being had to the 'accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to stringed instruments', and especially to mandolins.

One of the objects'of the invention is t0 provide an eiiective and advantageous construction o tail piece for a musical instrument.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a mandolin having a tail-piece embodying my present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view of the tail-piece construction of the same;

Fig. 3 is a cross section taken on line 3 3 in Fig. 2; Y

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the cover of sald tail-piece.

Referring to Fig. 1, I show a stringed instrument, such for example as a mandolin, having a body 1 and a linger board 2, upon which the strings 3-3 are stretched.

The connections for the lower ends of the strings 3, comprising the tail-piece of the instrument, are shown in Figs. 2 and 3. In

e this arrangement a metal piece 17 is secured to the bottom edge 18 of the instrument as by means of screws 19. This metal piece or plate 17 has an end portion 20 extending along the top of the body 1, over which portion 20 the strings 3 are extended. Lugs-21 are punched out of the plate 17 to form hooks or abutments to engage the ends of the strings 3. The plate portion 20 is provided with transversely extending upwardly projecting ribs or beads 22, over which the strings 3 pass. A supplemental plate 24 is mounted upon the plate portion 20 and also over the strings 3, the latter passing between the plates 20 and 24. The plate 24 is fastened to the plate 20 by means of straps or end portions 25 which extend down through the plate 20 and thence upwardly through the same again as shown in Fig. 3. The plate 24 has a moderate amount of play or movement so that it may be pressed down toward the beads 22 to hold the strings firmly in position'against the latter. A lever member 26 is arranged to press the plate 24 downward in this way, said lever member having an end or iinger piece 27 and being pivoted to the side flanges 28 on the plate 2() by means of pivots 29, Fig. 2. The member 26 has a laterally extending edgeV 30 which will act upon the plate 24 to press the same downwardly and cla-mp it against the strings 3 when said member 26 is ushed downwardly tothe position shown 1n Fig. 3.' T o release the plate 24 and permit it to release the strings 3, the member 26 is swung upwardly by prying the end 27 thereof upwardly or away from the strings, so that the lateral edge 30 will be swung away from the plate 24. In this way the strings may be attached to the tail piece by forming loops in their ends as shown in Flg. 2, and engaging those looped portions with the hooked members 21, and after the strings are thus attached the member 26 may be pushed downwardly so as to clamp the strings in position. When so clamped down the member 24 clamps them directly against the beads 22, thereby aii'ordin points of contact for determining the e ective lengths of the strings.

A cover piece 31 is detadhably mounted upon the tail piece 17, said cover piece being provided with edge guide strips 32, Fig. 2, which slide upon uideways 33, at the sides oi' the plate 17. ly sliding this cover piece 31 the strings and the member 26 with cooperating parts may be completely covered, as shown in Fig. 4, and by sliding said piece 31 the other way so as to remove it from the plate 21, the ends of the strings and member 26 will be uncovered so as to permit attachment or detachment, or other desired manipulation of the ends of the strings.

It will be understood that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

lVhat I claim is:

1. A stringed instrument having a tail piece comprising a plate provided with hooked members for engaging the ends of the strings, said plate being provided with beads over which the strings pass, a supplemental plate having `a loose connection with said tail piece, and a clamping device arranged to actuate said supplemental plate and clamp the same against vthe strings.

2. The combination of a stringed instrument and a tail piece therefor, said tail piece comprising a plate secured to the end of the instrument and provided With transversely extending beads, a supplemental plate located over the ends of the strings and loosely connected with said first-mentioned plate, and a pivoted lever having a transverse edge adapted to act against said loosely mounted plate and clamp the saine against said strings.

' 3. The eombination of a stringed instrument and a tail piece therefor, said tail piece Comprising a plate secured to the end of the instrument and provided Withl transversely 'extending beads, a supplemental plate located' over the ends of the strings and loosely connected with said rst-Inentioned plate, Va I pivoted lever having a transverse edge adapted to act lagainst said'loosely mounted 'opies of this 'patent may be obtained for In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribemy name rthis 21st day of April, A. D., 1916.

WALTER I. KIRK. Witnesses:

A. LYDA JONES, HAznL A. JONES.

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

